Forgotten Son
by LittleMech
Summary: *The title may not really match the story.* Cast aside for his siblings, Naruto leaves Konoha with new allies. With this new company, they save Wave and establish themselves as mercenaries and carry out jobs. But with a war and the treat of the Akatsuki looming over the horizon, the boy and his new comrades will have to make a choice. Abandon Konoha forever or return to defend it.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and the moves of the Final Fantasy franchise. I had used some moves from the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance.

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"Speech"  
Jutsu or Special Moves  
'Thoughts'

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Konohagakure, the village hidden in the leaves. It is indeed a city of beauty. Its rulers, the fourth Hokage and his wife, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, are wise and great leaders that have ushered in a new era of prosperity. They had triplets by the names of Natsumi Namikaze Uzumaki, the eldest, followed by Samuto Namikaze Uzumaki and Naruto Namikaze Uzumaki.

Natsumi, the red beauty, was a splitting of her mother when she was young. Her crimson red hair, the pale blue eyes and small petite body gave her an adorable look. Her name was known throughout the village as a hero as she and her brother had been used in the sealing of the Kyuubi from 10 years ago. She was famous in school and around the village, with many boys chasing her around. The 'Natsumi fanclub' had been created and were recruiting boys from all over the village. It is quite interesting to see how will these boys fight for their idol's praise and attention.

Samuto, the cool kid , was like a clone of his father. Both of them sprouted the same hair colour and hairdo. Both wear similar clothing and even the same fighting and throwing stances. The only difference was that while Minato was outgoing and friendly, Samuto was cold and very hard to approach. Like his sister, Samuto was used to seal the Kyuubi and thus the village worships him. Similarly to Natsumi, he too has a fanclub by the name 'Samuto fanclub'.

Naruto Uzumaki, the runt, outcast, burden and the pariah. Unlike his brother and sister, Naruto was not treated like a hero. Instead, he was looked down upon and often excluded from activities. Even his family could not bare to look at him and would often ignore him. This became common and eventually the family forgot about young Naruto. The cause for his mistreatment was due to a problem that occurred during his birth.

On the night of their birth, the village of Konoha was attacked by the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi was sealed within Kushina and was forcefully extracted by a mad man. This insane human had created slimes that he believed could consume the potent chakra of the Kyuubi. And then, he would then eat the slimes and obtain the Kyuubi's powers. All had went according to plan as he kidnapped Kushina as she gave birth. During childbirth, the seal would weaken and the crazed man seized this chance to pull out the Nine Tailed Fox. The extraction process was crude and unrefined and caused a lot of the Kyuubi's dangerous chakra to seep out of the seal. The chakra had affected Naruto only as he was the closest to the seal. His siblings were spared as their father arrived and stopped the process before they could be affected. However, the damage to the seal had been done and the Kyuubi was free and Naruto's body had assimilated the demonic chakra. The freed Kyuubi lost rational thought as its chakra was still being synchronized and started to attack the nearby village. Seeing their beloved home about to face the wrath of the Bijuu, the Fourth Hokage and his wife agreed to seal the beast into their eldest children, Natsumi and Samuto.

8 years had passed since the Kyuubi attack and the containers of one half of the Kyuubi was basking in the glory of their parents' actions. The last son was ignored and cast aside for his famous siblings. It only got worse on their 8th birthday. That day was a joyous day, and it was the first time that Naruto had ever received more than 30 seconds of attention. However, that day also marked Naruto's descent into depression. The father of the triplets had decided to show off his children to the village and had invited everyone to witness their unlocking ceremony. The trio were thrilled to learn that they would finally be able to use chakra. Natsumi was overjoyed that she could now become just her mother while Samuto was happy that he could follow in his father's footsteps. Naruto, on the other hand, was just thrilled that he could finally have more attention from his parents.

But alas, not all things go according to plans. While his siblings managed to unlock their chakra without much problems, Naruto was not. No matter how hard he focused, he was unable to tap on the 'hidden source of energy' as his siblings had put it. His parents had frowned as they watched him try to unlock it. Minato then leaned over to his wife and whispered.

"He is such a disappointment. Why can't he be like his siblings?"

Naruto's eyes flew open as he heard his father. "Why can't you do it by yourself? Look at your sister. Why can't you be like her?" "Wait patiently Naruto. Why can't you be like your brother?" "Why can't you..." "Why can't you..." "Why can't you..." The words keep echoing in Naruto's head. He looked to see his parents walking away, his brother looking at him with a look that shouted pity and the glare that his sister was directing at him. The gathered villagers had began to disperse, shaking their heads as they left. Their whispers sounded like shouts in the cool evening air.

"Isn't he the son of the Hokage? Why can't he use chakra then?" "Maybe he is the runt." "Haha! Most likely, that is why he was chosen to have the Kyuubi sealed into him. Perhaps his parents thought he was too weak to contain the beast!" "Oi! Don't say that in his face. He is still here and is the Hokage's kid afterall."

The hushed comments of the villages resonated in Naruto's mind. Tears welled up in his eyes as he once again tried to unlock the chakra, once again trying to gain the attention of his parents and to redeem himself. However, all he managed to do was touch on an unknown source. A source of energy that filled him with peace and enhanced his senses. Naruto knew that this was not what his parents wanted and tried once more to unlock the right energy source. Soon, dawn broke over the horizon and Naruto was sound asleep, exhausted from his attempts.

The boy was roughly awoken by a kick to his back which sent him flying across the training grounds he had slept in. Slamming into a tree, Naruto held onto his bleeding head as he glared at the person who kicked him. The smug look on his sister's face made him want to punch that annoying face to wipe that look of it. Samuto stepped in just in time as Naruto was about to jump forward and deliver a right hook to his sister's face.

"Stop this Natsumi-chan. Naruto, it's time to go to the academy. Get that wound tended to and make your way to classroom 3C."

With his part said, the older brother walked away with his hands in his pockets towards the academy. Natsumi snorted at her youngest sibling and spat at him before following her other brother. Naruto wiped the wad of spit off his face as he got up from the ground. The wound had already healed as Naruto could no longer feel any blood dripping, but the throbbing pain was still present. The lonely brother made his way to the academy, thinking what his father had installed for him when he enrolled in the academy.

10 years has now passed since the triplets' birth. Samuto had become quite a handsome man, taking after his father. Natsumi had also become a beautiful girl, looking like a miniature Kushina. Naruto on the other hand, had not changed much. Instead, his well being had deteriorated over the last 2 years. His original prediction had been correct. His father had prepared something for him. Humiliation. Minato had thought that being humiliated repeatedly would spur his youngest to work hard. However, it only worsened the gap between him, Kushina and Naruto. With Kushina and his two siblings adding in on the humiliation, Naruto had no one to turn to and took the blow of the jeers and insults. The 6 years of neglect and the past 2 years of humiliation had driven Naruto to the brink of insanity. Just at the young age of 10, Naruto was suffering from depression, schizophrenia, mood swings, split personality and antisocial personality disorder. He would be constantly murmuring to himself while avoiding others. He would appear to be having fun with others even though he was alone. Of course, his family did not notice these until it was too late. Naruto's cheese finally slid off his cracker when his father decided to take his family out for dinner but left him alone, locking within the massive house he called his prison.

The boy watched from his bedroom window as his father activated the seal on the walls of the property to prevent anything from getting in and getting out. Naruto's last remaining bit of sanity disappeared when he saw his father look up at his window, right at him as he activated the perimeter seals before turning away. The man had intentionally left him in this forsaken house while he and his other 'worthy' family members went out to eat dinner. All reason and logic left Naruto's mind as he started to hyperventilate. But before Naruto could do anything brash, the energy he unlocked 2 years ago surged throughout his body, encasing his body in light, calming him and repairing most of the mental damage. His flare of this chakra drew the attention of a sage that was peeping at the hot springs. Soon, the chakra died down and the light faded, revealing a more mature looking Naruto. The boy now looked like a mix of his parents. He had Kushina's eyes but his father's hair colour. His mother's cunning mind but father's calm and collected personality. He gained his mother's preference of weapons but his father's fighting style. This child was made anew and his name, Naruto Uzumaki shall be known to all.

After his change by the bright light, Naruto felt more calm than he had ever felt in his life. The boy walked out of the house as he looked at the beautiful garden that his mother and sister had toiled to maintain. He then turned to the horrible excuse for a tree house his father had tried to do for his brother. Naruto frowned slightly as he walked over to to garden. The flowers and plants seem to reach out to him, as if they wanted to hug him. The insects in the soil and the air around him moved aside to allow the blonde boy to walk through. The boy let a small smile slip onto his face as a few birds that were trapped within the perimeter seal landed on his shoulders. The nearby small critters also made their way to him in order to bask in his aura. Foxes and lynx would curl up in his lap or around him while squirrels would came themselves at home in his hair. This was the unusual sight that the Toad Sage, Jiraiya, saw when he finally found the source of the chakra spike.

The chakra that had calmed Naruto down and repair his mental damage was senjutsu chakra. Suddenly, Jiraiya heard rustling in the bushes near the child. At this moment he also noted that the perimeter seals had been deactivated and the barrier was down. From the bushes emerged 6 slimes, one red, blue, green, yellow, brown and white. Jiraiya immediately drew a kunai and was about to throw it when he saw the slimes. 10 years ago, when the mad man was about to lose, he had unleashed the slimes upon the village. Just as Minato silenced the insane man permanently, the slimes had already made their way into the village though the sewers. The Fourth Hokage immediately held an emergency meeting to deal with this problem but before any proper planning and decision was determined, the man had received intel from some patrols guarding his house that there were slime attacking his house. The man had raced through the village with 10 squads of ANBU following him. When he reached the house, the blonde Hokage noted that the barrier around his house was no longer up and that there were bodies of ninjas lying around the perimeter of his estate. The Hokage motioned his men forward as he bent down to check the vitals of the downed men. He could feel a strong pulse however there was very low amounts of chakra in the bodies. The Hokage realised that the men were suffering from charka exhaustion. He immediately rushed over to the ANBU teams and saw that they were in combat with the slimes. It would seem that all forms of physical attacks were of no use against these jelly-like creatures as demonstrated by a sword cut that by an ANBU officer which disappeared immediately. The same ANBU officer was then engulfed by the slime and he was spat out, unconscious. The Hokage immediately took charge of the situation and ordered his men to stay away from the slimes. He then ordered them to use ranged elemental ninjutsu as he spotted a singed pile of goo not to far away. The remaining 5 squads of ANBU agents fired jutsu after jutsu at the slimes, wind bullets blowing the goo creatures apart, water dragons washing away the slimes, fireballs melting the jelly-like creatures, lightning strikes and earth spikes left holes in the slimes' soft, flexible bodies. Eventually, the slimes stopped their advances and began to retreat. The ANBU agents were about to give chase when the Hokage stopped them. The leader of the village ordered the elite ninjas to fall back and submit a report on their combat encounter, bring the causalities to the hospital and be on the look out for the emergency of the slime once again. The village had suffered devastation by the hands of the Kyuubi and the mad man's actions, the leader did not want to waste anymore people.

That had been 10 years ago and now the slimes had finally reappeared. Jiraiya ran through the hand signs needed for the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique and waited with his two fingers near his lips. Just as the old man was about to unleash the fireball when the slimes stopped 2 meters away from Naruto. The white slime moved forward until it was no more than 50 cm away from the boy.

"Greetings, Naruto-sama."

Jiraiya was stunned that a slime was able to speak while Naruto was surprised that any creature would treat him so much respect to give him the '-sama' honorific. Seeing that the white slime in front of him was waiting for some sort of a response, Naruto decided to reply with a "who are you?". The slime began it's tale. It seemed that the slimes were made by a man called Uchiha Madara but were kept in storage in a secret safe hidden within one of the stone heads on the Hokage Monument. A crazed man who called himself Tobi managed to find this safe. He had read the notes belonging to Uchiha Madara and thought since these slimes could absorb chakra, he could use it for his own insane plans. He released us and ordered them to attack the village but while the slimes may look like they do not possess any form of intelligence, there was one type of slime that was intelligent and could communicate with slimes and humans. These leader slimes were white in colour and found that attacking a human village was a stupid idea. Firstly, they would only to only Madara or someone stronger than him. Secondly, slimes feed on chakra. Attacking a village with mostly civilians would be a dumb idea. The amount of energy wasted for this attack would not be covered by the rewards of the attack. However, the slimes decided to humour Tobi by acknowledging his command. After said man left, the slime leaders began ordering the slimes under their command to escape and retreat into the sewers. After bidding one another good bye, the slimes and their respective leaders left. At that moment, the slimes felt a very strong and potent power surge through the village above. This power caught the attention of the slimes as this power was much stronger than Madara's. The slimes quickly moved to exit the sewers and head towards the energy's source. They found themselves watching a blonde man fight Tobi. The crazed man was defeated but quickly retreated into the shadows around them. The blonde man was about to give chase when he heard a cry of pain from a bounded red haired woman. The potent energy was surging from the woman and it began to take the shape of a nine tailed fox. The man then took hold of his wife and teleported away in a flash of gold light. The fox let out a mighty roar as it turned towards the nearby village. Seeing that the chakra source was a bijuu, the slimes retreated. No slime was dumb enough to think that they could stand up to such a beast or absorb its chakra. But just as the slimes were about to move into the nearby treeline, they felt another source of energy. While the previous chakra was aggressive, fierce and oppressive, this one was calm, gentle and relaxed. However, the amount of this energy was small and located in the village. This caused the slime leaders to argue. Some of them wanted to approach this chakra's owner while others was against it due to the Kyuubi. Eventually, a compromise was made. Those that wanted to run may proceed while those that want to seek the source out will remain behind. Only half of the original remained behind and by then, the Kyuubi had been dealt with. The slimes then approached the property with the calming source of chakra in peace, wishing to be able to negotiate with humans only be immediately attacked. The order for retreat was given, however it was too late. By then, only 13% of the slimes survived. All surviving slimes retreated from the village in fear and went into hiding. Only this leader with his squad of slimes remained behind.

Naruto nodded as he listened to the slime's story. Naruto himself had read some of the reports of the ANBUs and ninjas from that day when he had entered his father's library. All of the reports either stated the slimes were very aggressive or that the slimes seemed god-like to them. There was no written record of the slimes' cause for aggression. The then 4 years old Naruto had decided to set this aside for the more pressing matters and eventually forgot about it. The blonde noted that the report had stated that there were 5 types of slimes. Voicing his curiosity, the boy questioned about why did the skirmish 10 years ago had no record of any white slimes and how did they find him.

"Well you see Naruto-sama, you were the source of the chakra we felt. We believe that the leakage of the Kyuubi's corrosive chakra had affected your growth and development. As such, you were unable to create normal chakra. However, it is because of the Kyuubi's chakra that you mutated and started to produce natural energy instead. From birth, the tiny amount of natural energy needed to support your life was a blinding beacon to all of us slimes." The white slime began to explain. Seeing Naruto nod, it continued. "It is in every slime's sustenance to serve a powerful master. And while we were fearful of the humans, my squad could not bare to leave behind such a powerful man. So we waited, waiting for the right time to approach you. We watched years go by as you were subjected to neglect, hoping that you would soon unlock your power. It was only on your 8th birthday that we were overjoyed. Our future master had finally tapped onto his true strength, but to our dismay, you left the power untouched and tried to pursue another. We had gone into hiding once more, slowly losing hope that you might be able to wield this energy. Today, we felt your energies surge and decide that today was that day. Please, accept us as your servants!"

Naruto looked at the jelly-like organism that stood before him. The white blob seemed to vibrate slowly while the other slimes behind him wobbled. Naruto started to stand up and the animals that rested on him jumped off the blonde boy as he walked towards the white slime. He knelt to the slime before nodding and raising his hand and placing them on the slime. He ignored the cool, wet and slippery feeling as the child channelled his energy into his hand. "I accept your offer and as a gift to all of you, I will give each of you some of my energy." As he said this, the slime in his hand began to wobble and glow as it began absorbing the energy. The other slimes watched as the slime was suddenly enveloped in a green glow before the glow died out. Removing his hand from the white slime, he moved on to the other slimes, placing his hands on them and channelling his natural energies. Jiraiya felt that he had seem enough and was about to leave the area and report to the Hokage when he stepped on a twig. As the twig snapped, Jiraiya cursed as foxes and lynx charged towards his hiding spot and jumping in him while the birds flew around him, pecking at any exposed flesh. The weight from the many foxes and lynx caused the man to fall backwards and rolled into a ball, trying to use his hands to shield his eyes, ears and nose. Naruto had been monitoring the slimes as the green glow disappeared. The slimes had began to morph into humanoid forms, their forms resembling females around his age. The slimes were trying to morph into something as human to their master as possible when they heard the twig snap. Immediately, the slimes wanted to charge towards the noise's direction but were held back by Naruto, claiming that the animals are fully capable of handling the capture of the spy.

Seeing Naruto approaching them, the animals stopped attacking the man and moved to form a perimeter around the injured man and their source of comfortable energy. Naruto looked at the prone man and sighed. 'Of all days to see this idiotic person... ' groaned Naruto as he picked up a stick from the ground and began to poke the old sage. After 3 pokes, the old man slapped the stick away as he sat up. Seeing that the man was up, Naruto greeted the man. "Good evening Jiraiya-san. What can I do for you?"

Jiraiya let out a grunt as he stood up before replying in a serious tone. "Naruto-kun, do you know that any contact with an enemy would be punishable by death or exile?" Naruto just stared at the old sage with a bored look that said "so what?" and the man started to get annoyed with this teen's attitude. Pulsing his chakra in a pattern that would alert his student, Jiraiya waited for his student to arrive. Naruto raised his eyebrow as he felt the pattern of the pulse. Suddenly a flash of yellow was seen and a blonde man along with his family appeared. "What is it Jiraiya-sensei?" called out the man as Jiraiya pointed towards Naruto. Seeing his teacher pointing to his useless son, anger bubbled within him. "Naruto! What have you done this time? No matter, go to your room now." The Hokage shouted at his son. Time began to slow down as Naruto's bangs covered his eyes, casting a shadow over his eyes. The teen's mouth was twisted into an insane grin. "After 2 years, this is the first thing you have spoken to me." The boy let out a small crazed giggle as he was about to charge forward but was held back by the white slime who had finally managed to transformed into a female version of Naruto. The naturally calming energy calmed Naruto down as he turned and left for his room. Seeing his son turn his back on him, Minato felt offended and was about to move forward to slap his son when he felt a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from moving forward. Just as Minato was about to throw the hand off his shoulder, the hand's owner whispered to him. "Look around you." Minato took a moment to survey his surroundings and was stunned. Everywhere he looked, there were angry animals staring at him. All of a sudden, a loud whistle pierced the tense air and all of the animals began heading towards the source of the sound. The old sage, Hokage and his family let out a relieved sigh as all of the animals left them alone.

The Hokage turned to Jiraiya and waited for his report. Jiraiya was frowning as he thought over all of the events that had occured from the slimes to the last comment that Naruto spoke. The old sage sighed as he began his report. "I called you here because Naruto had unlocked a powerful chakra – nature energy. It would also seem that he had made an agreement with the slimes." Minato growled as he heard this while Natsumi could not help but mutter insults at her brother. Kushina looked as if someone had kicked her dog, her face contorted into a look of fear, disappointment, anger and guilt while Samuto just stared at where Naruto stood. That spot had grass much taller and greener than those around it, as if Naruto's presence had accelerated its growth. Jiraiya looked at the family in disdain before speaking once more. "Minato, is it true? You had not talked to your son for 2 years now?" Seeing his student nod his head, Jiraiya turned to the other family members and repeated the question. Getting nods in response, Jiraiya could help but be extremely disappointed. "Minato. It does not matter whether he can use chakra or not! He is your son and ignoring him for 2 years straight is not good for his mental health. Remember the prophecy I told you about? The one that a student of mine would bring a revolution to this world? You know that I am training Natsumi and Samuto and both of you are confident that one of your 2 children would be the one stated in the prophecy. Minato, I think that your youngest son may be the child of prophecy. Whether he changes the world for the better, it would depend on your actions." With his part said, Jiraiya disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Minato reflected on his a teacher's worlds as he entered his study. Bidding his wife and children good night, the man sat down at his desk and began doing his paper work. Minato did not want to think about Naruto, heck, he did not want anything to do with Naruto at all. He was the problem child of the family, what good can come from him anyways. Minato would come to regret these thoughts in the coming years. The village leader soon forgot his teacher's words and became engrossed in his work. Naruto was in his room, looking up at the full moon. The moon was casting a silvery glow upon the room and it's occupants. The blonde child was laying on his bed, looking at the rock in the sky while gently petting a young fox kit that was sleeping on his stomach. The slimes were at one corner of the room, practicing their transformation. Naruto let out a soft sigh as he heard the doors to his sibling's and mother's rooms close. Slowly, the boy began to feel tired. His eyelids were getting heavy and began to slowly droop. Eventually, the boy dozed off, snoring softly as he stopped petting the fox. The slimes noticed that their master was asleep and approached their master. The slimes then formed a defensive circi3l around the child with the white slime engulfing the boy's lower half and acting like a blanket for the child.

A cool wind blew into Naruto's face. The boy's eyes immediately flew open as he began to take in his environment. He was no longer in his room but was instead in a large grassy field. The earth below him was covered in grass and the azure blue skies had puffy white clouds, slowly moving with the wind. The boy looked around him and saw a large tree behind him. Curious, the child made his way to the tree only to trip over something. Looking back, he saw a female version of himself. The girl woke up with yawn as she looked around and also discovered that they were no longer in the room. The girl spotted Naruto and quickly made her way to him. Naruto had stood up and was walking towards the tree when he noted something about the tree. Although the tree appeared young, it had many decaying leaves. The duo spotted a man sitting on one of the large roots of the tree. The man had a dark brown cloak with the brown hood covered his head, shrouding his face in darkness. The boy and his slime companion approached the man and was stunned when he looked up and greeted them.

"Greetings Naruto-kun."

The blonde boy and his slime companion stared at the man as said man stood and walked to the trunk of the tree. He placed a hand on the tree as he looked back towards Naruto. The man let out a small chuckle as he removed his hand and walked back towards the boy. He stopped next to the slime girl and lifted his hand, placing it on the girl's forehead. The slimegirl found herself paralyzed and the cloaked man sighed as he muttered something under his breath. He then walked back to the large root he was sitting on before motioning to the boy and the slime to sit next to him. As the boy sat down and the slime stood next to him, the man sighed and began to speak.

"I am sure both of you are curious to know who I am. Well, I am your ancestor, Naruto. And just like you, because our family's name is famous, everyone was expecting me to be able to use chakra. However, that was not the case. Instead, I unlocked the same energy as you did. People would call this energy nature energy and that's what exactly it is. This nature energy is created by all living things and thus we would have unlimited energy. But we are getting sidetracked here. You, Naruto, have acquired the same energy as me and have shared it with this slime. As such, I will teach both of you how to use this power of yours. Ready? Let's get started."

The man excitedly jumped to his feet and walked away from the tree. Naruto looked to his slime ally before standing up and followed the man. The man stopped about 30 meters away from the tree and waited patiently for the two. Once they were arrived, the cloaked man began his lecture on the power behind the mysterious nature energy. This from of energy, when compared to chakra, was much more powerful but it is surprisingly easy to control. This is because unlike chakra, which flows freely and fiercely like a raging torrent of water. Nature energy, however, is like honey. Much more powerful due to its thickness but is easier to manipulate due to its stickiness. The two young learners listened intently as the man continued on with methods to control and mold the energy. Satisfied that the two had sufficient knowledge, the man decided to show them a technique that uses nature energy. Focusing the energy to his hands, the man took a deep breath. The nature energy gathered in his the middle of his two hands and began to glow red.

"Black arts: Fire"

The man shouted as the red ball of energy exploded into flames. The man made a throwing motion and the ball of fire shot forward. The boy and the slime girl was stunned as the ball raced forward before impacting on the grass with a loud boom. The ball exploded as it hit the ground, throwing flames all over the place. Naruto and the slime turned back to the cloaked man shouted as one.

"Please sensei! Teach me!"

The man chuckled as he nodded and began his lesson once more. Hours passed as the duo learned extremely quickly. The two had managed to learn all of the sword styles as well as the defensive techniques when the man stopped his lesson. The man walked back to the tree and sat on the root as he waited for his two students to sit in front of him. Naruto had learnt that this was in his mind and that he could materialize anything he wanted. As such, the blonde boy had materialize 3 katana for practice. The boy and his friend were sheathing their blades and walking over to their teacher. The man sighed as he explained that his time was limited and it almost used up. He told the two that he would give the knowledge of the skills to them, however, he warned that know how to do the technique in theory is not the same as doing it in reality. The two nodded sincerely as they watched their teacher's body fade away and disappear. The two suddenly felt tried and soon fell asleep.

Naruto groaned as he woke up to the sound of knocking and a person shouting.

"Oi! Naruto! Wake up! Otosama wants to see you." The voice of Natsumi was heard from the other side of the door. The boy slowly climbed off his bed to see the six slimes standing by the door in their humanoid forms. It would seem that the slimes' late night practice was beneficial. The six looked like identical sisters at first glance but if you looked closely there was a difference in the color of their pupils. Each of them reflected their true color by the pupil. As the boy was walking to the door, the girls greeted the boy.

"Good morning, Naruto-sama! Your sister has been pounding on the door for the last 5 minutes. Do you wish for her to be silenced?"

Naruto shook his head as he walked to his closet to get a change of clothes. The boy was enjoying the attention and the respect the slimes were giving him. When Naruto was ready, the boy opened the door to see an annoyed Natsumi waiting at the door. She was wearing a beautiful red dress and had her hair tied in a ponytail. She was giving him a cold look and motioned him to follow her. The boy and his slime companions were led out of the house to the town square. Natsumi stopped before the Hokage tower where a crowd had formed. The girl disappeared into the crowd without a word as the blonde boy waited for something to happen. After 15 minutes, the boy was already bored and begging for something to happen. As if his wish was heard and granted, the Hokage appeared on the top of the tower. Immediately, the village erupted into cheers and applause as the blonde village leader waved to the people. As the Hokage raised his hands, the village became quiet and the Hokage spoke in a happy voice.

"My fellow villagers and ninjas, today I bring you all great news! My son, Naruto has unlocked a hidden power within him. This power is something we have never had before and I believe it is in the village's best interest that we nurture this power. I would like all of you to treat him with the respect he deserves. This is all. Thank you for gathering here today."

As the Hokage finished, the village once again exploded with cheers and applause. Minato was smirking as he thought that he had managed to gain his son's favor by announcing his achievements and in the process making him be noticed by the villagers. If Minato had done this a year ago, he would have successfully gained Naruto's favor easily. Naruto stared up at his father and silence, stunned at his father's stupidity. The boy turned around and walked away, ignoring the cheers and praises of the nearby villagers. The boy had made up his mind to leave this village in order to free himself from his family's influence. The slimegirls followed in silence as their master walked into his room and started throwing clothing into a rucksack. The boy did not had much possessions so he was quickly finished emptying the wardrobe into his bag before grabbing the 20 Kunai knifes and 15 shuriken that he had managed to steal from his father from his table as he filled up his weapon pouch. The boy gently stroked the orange weapon pouch. This had been a present on his 7th birthday from Shizune , his godmother Tsunade's assistant. This had been his first and only birthday present he had ever received and he had took great care of this simple present. The boy looked up and inspected the empty room, making sure that all of his possessions were taken. Satisfied that he had packed every thing, the boy picked up the fairly light bag and slung it over his shoulder and left the house. The boy ignored all of the greetings and the flirty girls as he made his way to the bank. The boy approached the teller as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. The boy re-read the words on the paper once more before nodding. Looking up at the teller, the boy gritted his teeth and anger as he saw the teller greet him with a smile. After all, Naruto recognized this man as one of the common people who criticized him. The boy spoke in a strained voice.

"Hello. I would like to withdraw 25,000,000 ryo from my father's account."

The boy waited as the man processed his request and went to the vault at the back of the bank to withdraw the money. After receiving the money, the boy exited the bank quickly. Naruto left the bank and met up with the slimes that were waiting for him. He passed the money to the girl with white pupils, instructing her to keep the money safe. The girl nodded as put the money into her pocket. The boy then turned and walked towards the village gates. He and the girls walked passed the guards and down the dirt road. The guards looked on in curiosity as they watched their leader's child walk away from his home. The dark brown cloaked the boy was wearing was the last the village of Monona saw of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze for the next 5 months.

That night, Minato called for a family meeting, fully prepared with all kinds of compensation in order to win him his child's cooperation. The man had a wide grin on his face as he thought of the unlimited power he could gained if he had an entire army of nature energy wielding warriors to fight for him. However, when he heard from his wife that Naruto was not in the house, the grin slipped off his face. The man immediately whistled and a squad of ANBU appeared before him.

"Find my son now!" the man ordered the elite ninjas who needed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Minato later learned that night that his son was no longer in the village and that two Chunin gate guards saw the boy left. The man was seething with rage but he could not do anything against his son. After all, the child was not a ninja yet and a notice to all villages about his missing son would bring disgrace upon Konoha and Minato himself. Thus, the man grit his teeth as he ordered his ninjas to secretly search for the boy's whereabouts to prevent other villages from discovering this. The man grumbled to himself when he saw a report from the bank about a transaction in his account. His son was very intelligent it seem, taking only what was stated that he would get from his father. That amount he withdrew was only 0.00001% of the total wealth and fortune of Minato Namikaze. The man crushed the piece of paper and threw it in the bin next to his desk as the man turned around to look at the village through the large window behind him. 'Naruto. I will get my hands on you. Just you wait,' the man thought as he looked at the village.

 **5 months later**

Five figures were walking down a dirt road from Konoha. Of this five people, one was an aged man in his late 50s who was drinking from a wine bottle, a jonin ninja with a headband covering his right eye and gravity-defying grey hair and three youths. The old man was Tazuna, a master bridge-builder hailing from The Land of Waves. The other man was Kakashi Hatake, the famous Copy-ninja of Konoha. The youths were Natsumi Namikaze Uzumaki, Samuto Namikaze Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. The first two youths were the children of the current Hokage while Sasuke was the last surviving loyal Uchiha of Konoha. Led by Kakashi, the three youths and the man made up Genin Team 7. All of a sudden, two men jumped out of a nearby puddle of water and rushed towards Kakashi. A chain, connected to the two men's gauntlets, wrapped around the one-eyed ninja and ripped the man to shreds. As the bloody remains of their team leader fell to the ground, the surviving members of Genin Team 7 could only stare in fear at the advancing men. The two began running towards the frightened genins, eager to put these pathetic excuses for genins down. Just as the men were about to wrap the chain around Natsumi, Sasuke and Samuto managed to recover from their fear-induced trance.

Sasuke quickly drew a kunai from his weapon pouch and threw the weapon. The knife caught hold of one of the chain's links and embedded itself in a tree, pinning the weapon to the plant and rendering it useless. The two gave irritated grunts as they detached the chain from their gauntlets and charged once forth once more. Samuto and Sasuke followed suit and charged forward and met the two men's gauntlets with their kunais. The two boys grit their teeth as they were slowly being overpowered by the much stronger men and just as they were thrown aside by the men, Kakashi dropped down from the tree behind them and delivered a chop to their necks, knocking them out. The trio let out sighs of relief when they saw their sensei and watched as the man crouched over to the two knocked out attackers. After taking a quick look at the knocked out men, the one-eyed ninja turned to the bridge builder frowned at the man. The old man started to sweat as the jonin cast a judgemental gaze upon him. The jonin then spoke in an even tone, not betraying any emotions.

"Tazuna-san, I believe you paid for a C-ranked mission. The presence of these missing-nins has raised the mission rank to a B-ranked one. These ninjas here are missing-nins from Iwa, and based on intelligence from Hunter-nin headquarters, these ninjas belong to a gang of bandits operating within Fire-country. These bandits, while may occasionally attack small villages, do not pillage these villages for fun. They are often paid for their work, either hired by a local gang to attack a rival gang's territory or hired by other rich people to eliminate targets. In other words, if these group of bandits has decided to target you, it would mean that you are considered dangerous to someone. Based on what you had told us about yourself, I do not think that anyone would want to kill an old bridge builder like you. Explain yourself now, or we will return to the village and allow the Hokage to deal with you."

The old man quickly gave in and began telling Genin Team 7 his tale, about how a rich corrupted businessman by the name of Gato had taken over his home, the Land of Waves. The little midget had seized control of the country's waterways by forming a blockade. The people of the Land of Waves depended heavily on fishing for a source of food. With the blockade in place, the people were unable to obtain food. At first, the village hero, Kaiza, stood against this tyrant however he was executed publicly, causing many to lose hope and submit to Gato. However, some still clung on to a hope for freedom and began building a bridge to connect to the mainland, the Land of Fire. However, when Gato learnt of this, he was enraged and wanted to squash the land's only remaining hope. The man then hired these people to kill him and this is why the bridge builder had approached Konohagakure for assistance. As the Land of Waves was suffering financially too due to the lack of trade, the old man had not enough money to pay for a B-ranked mission and thus had to make do with a C-ranked mission. As the bridge builder concluded his tale, Kakashi stood up and motioned the three genins to follow him. The four stopped under a tree, 5 feet away from Tazuna and began conversing in hushed whispers. After a few minutes, the four then turned away from the old man and faced the direction of Konoha. The team leader cast a bored glance at the old man as he said.

"Well Tazuna, my team has taken a vote and it seems that we would not be able to complete this mission. We would return to Konoha, with or without you, and the mission money that you paid us would be confiscated as compensation for nearly costing us our lives. If you have any problems, you can discuss this with the Hokage and let me warn you. He does not take providing false mission information lightly. I suggest you consider your options now."

With his part said, the man turned and walked back to Konoha with the other Genins in tow. The old man was devastated as the ninjas were his only chance to making it back to his country alive and staying that way while the bridge was completed. Without the escort, the man could only pray and hope that he could outwit his aggressors. In addition to that, the money that he had paid to Konoha was the last bit of money that he had. If that sum was confiscated, he could not even approach any other village for assistance. The old bridge builder fell to his knees as he tried to think of ways to overcome this difficult problem. To go back to Konoha to negotiate for his mission fee or to return home and continue building the bridge while avoiding assassins. While the aged bridge builder was contemplating his options, he did not notice that the Genin Team had disappeared across the horizon nor did he take note of the rustling coming from a clump of bushes near him. All of a sudden, two shadows jumped out from the bushes, hoping to take this chance and strike down the bridge builder once and for all. The aged man could only look on in horror as his assailants' sharp weapons descended upon him. Tazuna closed his eyes and prepared for the pain only to hear metal meeting metal and a grunt. The man opened his eyes to see that he was surrounded by seven people clad in black. They wore black trench coats with dark grey under-shirts, dark blue cargo pants and had half of their faces covered by a face mask. Six of these people were girls and the last one was boy, all of which were wielding different weapons, had sunglasses on. Three of the girls wielded bows, bowstring pulled back and arrows notched, ready to fire. One of the girls and the boy were holding swords, all drawn from their sheath. The remaining two girls were using a dagger and a spear respectively, both poised to strike. The boy had parried the two attacker's knifes with his sword as the girls prepared to enter the fight upon his command. The boy grunted as he pushed the two attackers back with a shout.

"Fighter Arts: Backdraft"

The boy's blade was suddenly engulfed with fire and pushed forward with a roar, sending the two attackers flying back. The two assailants were thrown onto their back as the boy released the technique and breathed heavily. One of the bow wielding girls mumbled something as the boy was soon covered in a dull blue light and the burn wounds on his hands were healed. The boy turned and smiled his thanks at the girl and the two attackers took this chance to jump into the nearby bushes. The other bow using girls immediately fired their arrows while calling out.

"Archer Arts: Take aim"

The arrows flew into the bushes and two cries of pain were heard. The boy motioned to the spear wielding and knife wielding girls to go after the two wounded attackers as he turned around to face Tazuna. The girls nodded and quickly disappeared into the bushes while the boy looked at Tazuna and spoke with the man.

"Are you Tazuna-san?" And at the nod he received from said man, he continued. "Good. Your daughter, Tsunami, has sent us to escort you back to the town. She was afraid that the ninjas you hired may not be sufficient for your safety and had insisted for us to quickly find you. Thankfully for you, your daughter has good foresight and we were able to arrive here just in time to save you. Now, get will escort you to your daughter."

Having said this, the boy extended his hand to the bridge builder and pulled him up to his feet. The boy turned when he heard movement in the bushes and saw the two girls he had sent out return. They were carrying the heads of the two attacks and after spotting the boy, showed two forehead protectors. The boy nodded and turned towards the Land of Waves. The youngster began walking towards his destination, the girls following behind him with the old man tailing behind them. Hours passed as the small company finally made it to the large body of water separating the Land of Fire and the Land of Waves. After making it across and into the main city, Tazuna was shocked to see his fellow countrymen happily walking about and carrying out their daily errands. Gone were the sad depressed faces that had no hope. As the seven escorts followed him to his house, Tazuna noted that many of the people were smiling and greeting the escorts, as if they had liberated them from the tyrant. The group soon arrived at Tazuna's house and when the old man opened the door, he was stunned to see his daughter sitting at the dinning table with piles of paper on both the table and the floor while his grandson was carrying stacks of paper around. Upon hearing the sound of the door opening, the two people in the house looked up.

Seeing Tazuna enter the house, the two quickly stopped whatever they were doing and quickly jumped forward and hugged the old man. Tazuna quickly recovered from his shock and hugged his daughter and grandson. As he released the two, he enquired about the state of the town. His daughter was about to quickly gave him a summary of the events that had occurred when she realised that the seven escorts were still waiting outside the house. The woman immediately asked her son to prepare some tea while she debriefed the team of seven. Once her son was off to the kitchen to prepare some tea, Tsunami sat down at the dinning table once more and waited for the seven to begin their report. Tazuna took a sit at his daughter's side, listening in onto the report.

"As according to your request, we rushed towards Konoha. We were three hours away from Konoha when we spotted Tazuna-san in the middle of the road. It seemed that the Konoha ninjas he had hired had abandoned him and he was immediately attacked by two missing-nins. We took care of the threat and escorted him to your house. End of report."

Tsunami nodded as she accepted the tea from her son. After taking a sip, she spoke.

"Thank you for saving my father. I believe this is your payment."

The woman then picked up an envelope from the table and tossed it towards the boy who caught it and opened it to reveal a set of keys. The boy nodded his thanks as he and his company took their leave.

"Thank you for your services, Black."

"By your leave, Mayor-sama."

As the boy and his team of girls left the house, the bridge builder immediately turned to his daughter. "I demand an explanation right now. How are you the mayor and who is that person?" the old bridge builder demanded as he slammed his hands onto the table in anger and worry.

Tsunami took another sip of her tea before turning to her father and spoke in a calm tone.

"Those people are a group of mercenaries going under the name of 'Dark Ones'. Their leader, the boy, is called Black Spectre, or at least his people call him that. As for how I became mayor, when they liberated this town, they stated that their employer was me. Thus, the people decided to call me the mayor for my actions."

"And how did you find these mercenaries?"

"I was collecting some berries and edible roots just at the edge of town when I was attacked by bandits. It seemed that Gato wanted to kill you very badly as he had hired these bandits to kill you and your family members. The vile men were about to rape me before killing me when they arrived. The 'Dark Ones' appeared from the trees and stopped the men. The seven of them quickly put down the 10 bandits and their leader approached me. He explained that he and the five girls were mercenaries that were looking for a place to set up a operation base. He asked if I could direct him to the nearest town and before I knew it, I had brought him and the girls to our house."

The woman took another sip of her tea and motioned to her son to refill the cup once more before continuing her recount.

"The boy asked why the town was in such a state and I gave him a quick explanation of the situation. The boy nodded as I told him the story of how Kaiza was publicly executed and when I was done, the boy asked for the location of his base and roughly what kind of men Gato employed. Once I answered these questions, the boy stood and reassured me that all of our suffering would soon come to an end. Then he left the house with the girls and returned 3 hours later with Gato. I think they placed him under some kind of illusion because the little tyrant started signing over all of his property and company matters over to me. After that, he was placed in chains and brought to the centre of the town and publicly hung. After that, the country slowly recovered as we were finally able to go fishing and ships were now able to enter our ports to trade."

Tazuna nodded as he listened and he realised something. No mercenary works for no reward. Seeing her father's face, the woman quickly added that all the boy had requested was for a small compound for his usage. The keys that she gave him were the ones to the old compound located on top of a hill to the south-east of the bridge. Tsunami then stood and handed the cup over to her son as she walked to the door and opened turned back to her father and beckoned him to follow her. The old man followed his daughter as she showed him the improvements and repairs to the village. Just as the duo were walking towards the half-constructed bridge, a loud scream of pain was heard.

Immediately, the father and daughter rushed over to the scream and noted that they were in the swamplands, located to the west of the bridge. On the ground lay four men, three dead while one was bleeding heavily from his neck. The two civilians tensed as they saw ninjas standing over the bodies. These ninjas were from Konoha and there were nine of them, an ANBU squad, a Genin Team and the Hokage. Tsunami immediately reached into her pocked and pulled out a bone whistle the size of a thumb and blew into it. The loud low sound produced by the whistle was loud enough to warn the townspeople of danger, alert the town's militia and to summon the mercenaries. The ninjas were startled when they heard the loud sound and immediately turned to the origin of the sound. They saw a elderly man and a woman in her mid 30s step out of the nearby bushes. The woman called out to the ninjas.

"What are you doing? Those men are the village's militia!"

An ANBU operative drew his sword as he replied.

"Those men drew their weapons at the Hokage. Any form of aggression against the Hokage cannot be tolerated and those that do will be killed."

"So it is fine to kill off a trade town's form of defence?"

The same man was about to reply when another ANBU operative shot foward, blade held at the ready and ready to strike down the two civilians. However, the ANBU was stopped as seven figures landed in front of the ninja. Black Spectre had his blade at the ninja's throat while the bow users had their bowstrings pulled back, aiming at the other eight ninjas. The other two members had their weapons drawn and were also pointing them at the eight ninjas. Tsunami and Tazuna let out a sigh of relief, glad that they were not going to die that day. The only boy spoke as he sliced the neck of the ninja open with his blade.

"Our apologies for being late."

Tsunami waved their apology aside, happy that they made in time to save them. The ANBU squad had drawn their weapons, ready to defend the Hokage with their lives while said man was looking at each of the seven newcomers closely, judging their strengths. The village leader had already determined these newcomers as mercenaries due to the different clothing and the amount of battle prowess they possessed. These people were definitely not militia quality. The blood of the dead ninja covered the boy's blade as the boy threw the corpse aside and faced the remaining ninjas. One of the bow wielding girls quickly muttered something softly.

"White Arts: Protect. White Arts: Shell"

As the seven people and the two civilians were coated with a green and blue energy, the company of ninjas had different reactions. The ANBU agents were tensed, ready to intercept any forms of attack, the Genin Team were awed by the display of colours while the jonin and the Hokage looked on in fascination. The Hokage turned to the jonin who nodded and the Hokage then held his hand up. The ANBU agents saw this and lowered their weapons. The village leader then opened his mouth to speak.

"I see your town has acquired mercenaries to defend you. But what you should know about mercenaries is that they can be bought over by other people by money. So mercenaries, would you like to join Konohagakure instead. You would be of more use to us than to them. Plus, we will give u a monthly salary and pay you a large sum of money in advance. What do you say?"

Tsunami and Tazuna froze as they heard the offer of the Hokage. They hoped that the mercenaries would not betray them now. The girls waited silently for the boy's remarks while the civilians waited with bated breath. The boy then asked in a flat tone.

"A large sum you say. Could you pay me 125,000,000,000,000ryo? If you can, then you have bought our services." *Auther Notes: BTW, the total sum of the Hokage's account is 250,000,000,000,000ryo.* "No right? Well the deals off."

Tsunami and Tazuna were overjoyed when they heard the boy decline the offer however their joy was short lived as the Hokage raised his hand. The ANBU agents raised their weapons again and, as the Hokage waved his hand forward, the elite ninjas charged forward. The ninjas brought down their swords onto the nearest girl- one holding the sword but was shocked when she parried their blades with her own. The girl's allies were not idle and soon the ninjas found themselves impaled by arrows. The ninjas disappeared into a cloud of smoke, only to have a log replacing them. The ninjas reappeared in the trees, where they were once again fired at. The arrows flew towards their targets but just before they hit, logs were once again in place of the ninjas. The Hokage took this time provided by the ANBU agents to retreat. The Genin team followed suit, pulling back while the ANBU operatives distracted the seven mercenaries. Once the Hokage and the other ninjas were far away enough, the three remaining ANBU agents took smoke pellets out of the weapons pouch and threw them onto the floor, breaking the pellets and releasing a thick white smoke. While the mercenaries were waiting for an attack to penetrate the smoke, the ANBU operatives quickly sneaked passed them, grabbed the fallen comrade and retreated. As the smoke cleared, the seven mercenaries and their charges looked around to notice that the ninjas had retreated. The boy lowered his guard as he motioned to the dead bodies on the floor.

"Revive them. They did not deserve this."

"White Arts: Full Life"

Two of the girls called out as they placed their bows on the ground and knelt down. They then placed their hands on the corpses and the dead bodies were also enveloped in the same white aura. The wounds on the bodies began to mend and regenerate as the girls moved their hands over the injuries. Once all of the wounds were healed, the aura turned to a pale green colour and the bodies seemed to twitch until the four men opened the eyes and let out a gasp. They quickly sat up, taking in rapid breathes as the girls moved back to allow them some space. The men turned around quickly, taking in their surroundings and when they saw the mayor, bowed their heads in respect. Upon the mayor's nod, the men stood up and saluted to the woman and her father before continuing on their patrol, discussing among themselves why their clothes were soaked in blood. The mayor and her father turned to the seven mercenaries who had gathered their equipment and were about to return to their new headquarters. The boy walked up to the two civilians and spoke in a very serious tone.

"Tsunami-sama, Tazuna-san. You will not tell anyone what you saw today. If you do, we will find out and silence you permanently, understood?" After seeing the father and daughter nod, the boy bid them farewell and moved off with the other girls. The woman and her father slowly returned to their house, amazed that the mercenaries possessed abilities to bring back the dead. However, they were most horrified that Konoha would attack a trading town such as theirs. Immediately when she got home, she began writing a notice and a letter, the first to warn the citizens of wave that the ninjas of Konoha were not to be welcomed in the town and the second to inform the Hokage and the Fire Daimyo that all Konoha ninjas were not permitted to enter the town. In addition, there would be no trade routes between Konoha and the Land of Waves. As the woman stamped the two documents with her official seal, Tsunami sighed as she called for a messenger and ordered the man to bring the letter to Konoha and to paste the notice in the town square.

* * *

Well, this is the first chapter. I hope it is enjoyable. The name of the girls will be introduced in the next chapter but I decided to include them below.

Please read and comment on anything about the story. It would greatly help improve my writing style. Thank you!

* * *

Name: White  
Gender: Female  
Description: Has white pupils, because of this, always has sunglasses on.  
Speciality: All Spells  
Weapon of choice: Katana  
Position: Second-in-command

Name: Brown  
Gender: Female  
Description: Has brown pupils.  
Speciality: Hand-to-hand techniques  
Weapon of choice: Any kind of Knife  
Position: Scout

Name: Green  
Gender: Female  
Description: Has green pupils  
Speciality: Long-ranged techniques  
Weapon of choice: Bow, combat knife  
Position: Sharpshooter

Name: Blue  
Gender: Female  
Description: Has blue pupils  
Speciality: Defensive and healing spells  
Weapon of choice: Bow, staff  
Position: Healer

Name: Red  
Gender: Female  
Description: Has red pupils, also wears sunglasses all the time.  
Speciality: Offensive and some defensive spells  
Weapon of choice: Bow, nunchucks  
Position: Mage

Name: Yellow  
Gender: Female  
Description: Has yellow pupils, also wears sunglasses all of the time.  
Speciality: Melee weapon techniques  
Weapon of choice: Spear, Odachi  
Position: Shock-trooper (First one to enter combat)

Name: Black, Naruto Uzumaki  
Gender: Male  
Description: Has a cloak with a hood that always covers his head. The hood shrouds his face in shadows, preventing people from seeing beneath the hood.  
Speciality: All melee techniques  
Weapon of choice: Katana, Odachi, Wakizashi  
Position: Shock-trooper, Team-leader


End file.
